Hello! June has passed as quickly as I anticipated. Unfortunately, that has made it so that this is my first blog post in almost a month. I’ll try to make up for it though, with the story I’m about to write.

Just so everyone will know, my vacation to the Florida coast turned out to be a heck of a lot of fun. The Pensacola beaches were white, the sun was bright, and the water was very clear. I don’t think I got more than one jellyfish sting in the whole week, which is probably a record for me (I usually get stung by jellyfish at least three times while at the beach). Any trace of BP’s oil spill seemed to be gone (or buried); if you took a step back and took a panoramic look at everything, they appeared to have done a top job on the clean-up. Upon sticking your toes into the mushy sand on the shore and glancing down, however, tarballs of varying sizes -from about as big as a dime to one as large as a quarter- begin to pop up. I picked up a few shells floating around on the sand only to throw t

hem away in disgust as they were coated in oil. Where is it coming from? I wondered, looking around at the otherwise pristine beach. Many scientists are saying that the oil has not been removed, it is simply lying deep underneath the surface where sand-digging organisms and crustaceans run risk of mining a deadly underground slick. There were still more telltale signs of lingering oil as you walked along the beach. Settling down in shallow waters for too long gave some people in my group long stripes of sticky oil on their legs; as you exited the beach on one boardwalk, a scrub brush and a bottle of oil removing soap sat next to the hoses usually reserved for washing just sand off of your legs. Yes, the vacation was fun and the white sand distracted many visitors from looking too deep under the surface, but it also brought a dark shadow in my mind concerning the future of the Gulf of Mexico. Could there still be big oil slicks out there, despite the oppressive silence from the media concerning the remnants of the 2010 oil spill? Is it all a cover up for BP to keep claiming its halfhearted clean up efforts are true, or is the oil really innocent, washing up coincidentally? Only time will reveal the true story behind the otherwise glittering beaches.

Today has been quite relaxing, compared to the past 3 days. It’s been a busy time, including weird infrequent showers of rain that are both annoying and come and go as quickly as pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving dinner. But now, after much anticipation, I am preparing myself for an exciting trip to Pensacola, Florida this Saturday! I feel so lucky that these beautiful beaches are just a four hour drive from my hometown. ❤ It’s been a bit of a tradition to go to Pensacola every summer for a week, though the oily beaches due to BP’s terrible oil spill last year forced some improvisation. But now I shall return to soak up some sun, and will also take pictures of the beach to prove what an amazing time I’ll be having during the next 9 days 😀 Just kidding. In the mean time, my blog appears to be falling once again into my forgetful negligence, but I promise I’ll try to post in the next couple of weeks. Packing, planning, schoolwork, and life in general have taken up a lot of time, but never fear. My ramblings will continue.

I know I said a few days ago that I’d be doing a regular blog post every day, with a photograph, etc. And I totally broke my promise, at least I broke the one that I made to myself. The truth is, I’m not a very good blogger. Often times my days are uneventful and so I figure there’s no point in writing. Others, I’m so busy I really don’t have time to.

So I thought about it and decided that I’m not going to make any extra commitments, but try to get in one post a week. That I can handle. So sorry if anyone’s reading this, for my neglect. You may call me a twitchy penguin robber behind my back if it makes you feel better about my treachery. In the mean time, I can report that summer has officially started. It’s here. No more balmy spring days; yesterday I literally had to unstick my thighs. If you don’t hear from me for a while, it’s safe to assume that I passed out and died from the heat. Just kidding.

Not entirely sure what to say about this photo, other than what occurred to me while I was taking it. It was namely this: I wonder if the pizza parlor is still open, but also I thought that it’s amazing what spring brings us after the horrid freeze of winter. I was walking around my neighborhood, thinking about life and feeling a bit gloomy when this red rose bush caught my eye. It’s started to convince me the world isn’t totally doomed to failure if nature can still be so beautiful. And also that eventually, I’ll get some pizza.

It’s become truly a love triangle, consisting of me, my Netflix instant watch, and my computer. I finished up my final tests yesterday and since then have been eagerly watching all kinds of TV shows I missed while I was studying. In my own defense, not having a television can hamper your ability to keep up with the latest episodes of The Office, so I try to compensate. Specifically, last night I watched a Swedish comedy called The Swimsuit Issue. It’s about Sweden’s only all-male synchronized swimming team trying to make it to the world cup, even though they’re pretty bad swimmers. I didn’t think it was going to be very funny but, it was, so any of you who like foreign movies & have Netflix ought to watch it ;D

P.S. Watch out for ninja kittens because this is an awesome commercial.

It’s been forever since my last post, I know, and I’ll admit it’s partially because of my own negligence. Okay, maybe I should said mostly. But it’s true that the past month has been a busy one. April has come and gone as quickly as a teenager in a Ferrari, and summer is closing in, leaving the cool springy days behind. Today’s weather has been unexpectedly beautiful however, a cool breezy 64- perfect for bike riding. It’s nice to get out of the house like I did this morning on my bike, especially when I’ve been inside and cooking so much. Speaking of cooking, I made the best caramellized onions & carrots yesterday. Really. They were so good, though the picture below doesn’t really do them justice. After they were done I made them into a tomato sauce, with my spaghetti 🙂

I got a chance to walk around the Downtown area and do a bit of sightseeing earlier in the week. Here’s a photo of the beautiful St. Louis Cathedral, the sepia setting on my camera was too perfect to resist. Haha 🙂

For the record, I love animals. Always have and probably always will. But up until a few minutes ago, the topper on my “favorite endangered species” list was the sea turtle and humpback whale. Now this little guy is creeping up the list, too. Dwarf seahorses are possibly one of the cutest marine animals out there, and the more I read about them the more desperately I hope they don’t go extinct, so one day I may catch one and keep it close to me at all times. They have “elaborate mating and social rituals” which they go through seeking a mate or just a friend, they’re less than one inch long and the male gives live birth to the offspring. It’s so weird but so great. But the true point of this post is, to let you all know that right now the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) is fighting to get the little guys protection for their seagrass. This sea horse is one of the numerous victims of the late BP oil spill (which still hasn’t been properly cleaned up) and might never get protection. We need a petition over here!

The past week has been a busy blur. I’ve been babysitting, doing schoolwork, running around the city in general, and it’s been quite time-consuming. There was a large thunderstorm the day before last, which made the power flicker on and off and called for a shut-off of most electronics. Though I couldn’t do much on the computer for a while and the lightning was scary, it was quite exciting. I enjoy not always using electricity and especially being outdoors, even though I don’t think I could live without my laptop. On Friday I went to mass at a nearby church and got a few good pictures of the downtown area, which I shall display below.

Today has been a pretty quiet, relaxed day, so I had a while to think it through and compile this list of songs for y’all. These songs aren’t inspiring for any particular reason, just an odd assortment that when I hear I can’t help but smile or sigh or have a sudden desire to dance. Y’know, those kinds.

#1. Nine Million Bicycles by Katie Melua

Every time I hear this song I instantly feel more relaxed; the melodies are so great.

#2. Violet Hill by Coldplay

This song is amazingly fun and easy to listen to, not to mention it’s Coldplay here.

#3. Postcards from Italy by Beirut

Beirut has a special place in my heart for it’s amazing music, but also because I may or may not be in love with Zach Condon 😉